The last time Pedro Sánchez ratified an increase in the national minimum wage (SMI) was in 2020, from the Moncloa Palace, following an agreement with the major unions, CCOO and UGT, and the Spanish employers' associations, CEOE and Cepyme. Six years later, Sánchez has once again presided over another minimum wage increase. This time, he did so from the Ministry of Labor, alongside the Minister, Yolanda Díaz (Sumar), and the two union leaders, Unai Sordo (CCOO) and Pepe Álvarez (UGT), but without the employers' associations, with whom Sánchez did not hesitate to distance himself. The Spanish president criticized the employers' associations for withdrawing from the agreement to raise the SMI to €1,221 per month by 2026. "Where are the employers?" the Spanish president asked this Monday at the signing ceremony for the new increase. "It is unacceptable that in a context of economic prosperity, those earning the minimum wage are scrutinized while those earning a lot of money are not," Sánchez said. On the eve of negotiations between unions and employers to update the current agreement for employment and collective bargaining (AENC), the Spanish president endorsed the position. "Pay them more!""From Joe Biden four years ago. "Let them pay more," he said. "Let no one tell us that salaries can't be raised when profits grow, when the economy is advancing," Sánchez reiterated.

The Ministry of Labor is paving the way for an increase in the national minimum wage (SMI) by 2026. In the first meeting with the major unions, CCOO and UGT, and the Spanish employers' association CEOE, held this Tuesday afternoon, Yolanda Díaz's team sought to gauge the social partners' interest in raising the SMI by 2026. Sources from the Ministry of Labor explained that the meeting served to convey to the social partners the report from the committee of experts, which recommended a 3.1% increase without taxation and a 4.7% increase if income tax is paid. committee of experts It falls short of the unions' proposals and also deviates from the employers' proposal, which called for a 1.5% increase. However, this increase would mean that recipients of this minimum income would not be subject to income tax. Following this initial contact, the central government must make a first proposal on the minimum wage for 2026, with the aim of reaching an agreement within the framework of social dialogue. The unions expressed their openness to negotiation, while the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations) did not comment. Maximum tension

The negotiations are taking place at a time of maximum tension between employers and the Ministry of Labor. In fact, sources involved in the social dialogue assume that any agreement reached will be bipartite (government and unions), and that employers are unlikely to join. This Monday, the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations) was no longer part of the agreement to pass the new leave for bereavement and palliative care.

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The committee of experts advising the Spanish government on the national minimum wage (SMI) has proposed raising it by 2026 to €37 per month (€1,221 per month in 14 payments) if it is decided that it will remain exempt from income tax, or to €56 per month (to €40 per month) if it is decided that it will remain exempt from income tax, as announced this Thursday. The Country and has been confirmed by ARA. Currently, the minimum wage is set at €1,184 per month, paid in 14 installments.

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The two largest unions are making moves in preparation for an increase in the national minimum wage (SMI) in 2026. CCOO and UGT have formalized their proposal for negotiations with the Spanish government and employers: a 7.5% increase in the SMI, to €1,273 gross per month. This increase represents an €89 raise over the current minimum wage, which stands at €1,184 gross per month paid in fourteen installments, as detailed by Javier Pacheco, Secretary of Union Action for CCOO, and Fernando Luján, Secretary General of Union Policy for UGT, at a press conference this Tuesday. Both union representatives argued that the SMI increase for 2026 must be "substantial and substantial." According to the unions, despite being subject to income tax (IRPF), with a 7.5% increase, those receiving the minimum wage would still earn the equivalent of 60% of the average net salary, which is the benchmark established by the European Social Charter and the commitment of the Spanish government. "We say that 60% should be calculated on gross salaries [...]. This 7.5% increase is less than how business profit margins have increased this year," Luján argued. The income tax (IRPF) already dictated the 2025 increase. While the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, rejected the idea of the minimum wage being taxed under this levy, the Ministry of Finance, headed by María Jesús Montero, defended it. Ultimately, the battle ended with a deduction for minimum wage earners so they wouldn't have to pay income tax. Looking ahead to 2026, Díaz has asked the committee of experts on the minimum wage to put forward two proposals: one for an increase subject to income tax (IRPF), and another in which minimum wage earners remain exempt from this tax. However, the committee has not yet released its proposal. Díaz asserted this Tuesday that the minimum wage will increase "significantly" in 2026 if the Spanish government, or "a part of it"—referring to the Treasury—decides that it will be subject to income tax (IRPF).

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In Spain, there are approximately 340,000 people registered with Social Security as domestic workers. Even so, this largely female group has had to fight for years to gradually achieve parity with other employees in their labor rights. This Friday, November 14th, key legislation will come into effect to ensure that domestic workers receive the same protection regarding occupational risk prevention. This Friday marks six months since the Minister of Labor and Second Vice President of the Spanish Government, Yolanda Díaz, presented the legislation. Prevention10.es so that families can also assess the occupational risks of the people they employ in their homes. From then on, the grace period ends, and those who fail to comply with this obligation will face fines of between €2,451 and €49,000, depending on whether the infractions are serious or very serious.

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The Ministry of Labor has put its proposal to extend death leave and create a new palliative care leave in black and white. This Sunday, the team of First Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz (Sumar), sent a text to the social partners (majority unions and employers' associations) to address both benefits. Unions and employers' associations received the document via WhatsApp, just before the social dialogue table on the dismissal reform held this Monday, which has upset social representatives. "These are not the ways [to begin discussing a regulatory change]," said the general secretary of union action for CCOO, Javier Pacheco, in statements to the media this Monday.

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The new timesheet will require detailing, among other aspects, work breaks within the workday, as well as overtime and how they will be compensated, whether through rest time or pay. According to the draft royal decree The new register, which entered the public consultation phase this Thursday, must be digital in all companies and be "objective, reliable, and accessible." Therefore, it banishes the formula by which some workers still recorded their workday with pen and paper.

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The month of September marks the beginning of the school year and, as usual, it comes with a slight improvement in the job market. after the end of the summer contracts in AugustIn Catalonia, job creation resulted in 14,869 new Social Security registrations (up 0.39%), while unemployment fell by 5,293 people (-1.62%), according to data published this Thursday by the Ministries of Social Security and Labor, respectively.

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After this Wednesday the The Congress of Deputies will reject the bill to reduce working hours. At 37.5 hours, which also included a new time record, the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor took less than 24 hours to make a move: the Ministry of Labor opened the prior public consultation on the draft Royal Decree for the reform of the time record in an attempt to approve it separately from the reduction in working hours.

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It is already usual for the month of July to arrive to break the trend of declining unemployment. Although Catalonia maintains record employment, according to data published this Monday by the Ministry of Labor, the total number of unemployed people in the Principality increased by 4,339, reaching 319,423. In absolute terms, Catalonia was the autonomous community where unemployment grew the most, followed by the Basque Country (+1,600) and Aragon (+1,167). If we compare it with July 2024, however, the number of unemployed Catalans fell by 7,860, a 2.4% decrease.

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For the first time in history, there are more than 3.9 million workers in Catalonia. The June Social Security affiliation data, published this Wednesday by the relevant ministry, confirm that Summer has arrived with a new record in occupancy in our countrySpecifically, 24,177 new people were added to jobs, bringing the total to 3,905,458, the highest figure in the entire historical series.

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"I think we're going to be in September." This is what a voice of social dialogue thinks about the processing of the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week in the Congress of DeputiesLast week, the committee again extended the period for submitting amendments to the entire bill until June 11th. This isn't the first time the deadline has been extended, so this representative of the social partners believes that—at this rate—there won't be time for the bill to be voted on in a plenary session before the summer break. This would mean it would be pushed to September: normally, Congress is open in June, but not in July or August, although days can always be set aside at the last minute to close pending files.

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The late start of the tourist season already boosted in April towards A new absolute record for employment in Catalonia, and as summer approaches, the milestone continues. In May, the Catalan labor market once again reached historic highs, with an average of 3,881,281 Social Security affiliates, according to data published this Tuesday by the relevant ministry. This is an increase of 37,065 people, 0.96% more than the previous month. Thus, Catalonia was the second territory in the country in job creation in absolute terms, behind only the Balearic Islands (+51,237 people), where the arrival of warm weather (and tourists) also kick-starts the campaign for new hiring.

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Over the past year, Daria and Patricia have gone the other way. The former—a surgeon who arrived from Ukraine three years ago due to the Russian invasion—became self-employed so she could exchange her student visa for a temporary residency and now works as an emergency room doctor for private clinics: "I worked on a 20-hour contract for a family when they recognized my qualifications, which allowed me to balance my work and have total freedom." She is happy with this option and, for the moment, has no plans to return to working for someone else, although at some point she plans to take the MIR exams to open the door to public healthcare.

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The reduction of the working week to 37.5 hours reached the second round of the Council of Ministers' proposals this Tuesday. under the watchful eye of JuntsThe Spanish government has given the green light to the draft bill that will now make its way to the Congress of Deputies, where, for the moment, Pedro Sánchez's government does not have the guaranteed votes of its investiture partners, nor of the opposition. In fact, Carles Puigdemont's party threatened to overturn the law with a comprehensive amendment, although it remains open to negotiations to try to achieve a different text that includes, in particular, exceptions for Catalonia.

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In the midst of the crisis between the PSOE and Sumar over the contract for 15 million bullets, finally rescinded, of the Ministry of the Interior with an Israeli company, the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has announced that next week's Council of Ministers will approve in a second round the draft bill reducing the working week to 37.5 hours per week. The date is also significant, or at least symbolic, because it will be approved just before May Day.

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The labour market seems to be returning to the usual behaviour it had before the pandemic broke out. After eleven consecutive months of decline, unemployment has risen again in January, a month in which it traditionally does as many contracts from the Christmas season come to an end. The increase in unemployment has been 2,644 people in Catalonia (0.72%) and 17,173 people in Spain (0.55%).

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The reactivation of the tourism sector, despite the covid restrictions, has resulted in a reduction in the number of unemployed in August in Catalonia, which is in the fifth consecutive month of decline. The Principat has closed the month with 17,186 fewer unemployed, which represents a decrease of 4.21% compared to July and up to 18.62% compared to a year ago, when the restrictive measures due to the pandemic were more demanding.

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